1. Field of the Invention
The present invention broadly relates to gas turbine engines having afterburners and, more particularly, is concerned with a plurality of attachments for removably mounting a flameholder in the afterburner so as to facilitate removal through an exhaust nozzle of the engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to increase the effective thrust of a gas turbine engine for takeoff and climb and for periods of dash of the aircraft, It is advantageous to augment the engine thrust by injecting and burning additional fuel in an afterburner system. The afterburner system would be located in the engine between the turbine and the discharge nozzle.
It has been the practice in afterburner systems to use fixed baffles as flameholders at such location. One of the more common forms of the fixed baffle is a V-shaped fan gutter having its apex pointing upstream toward the turbine. A plurality of these fan gutters are rigidly attached to an annular flameholder shroud to form a one-piece unit having a fan-like configuration.
Flameholders operate at very high temperatures and therefore have a short operating life relative to most other parts of the engine. Therefore, it is necessary that a flameholder be replaced and a new one installed periodically during the longer operating life of the engine. The most desirable route for removing the flameholder is through the engine exhaust nozzle. However, currently the flameholder unit has an overall diameter which is larger than the diameter of the discharge nozzle opening. Thus, up to now a portion of the engine must be disassembled in order to remove the flameholder unit. Consequently, a need exists for an improved flameholder attachment that will facilitate removal of the flameholder through the engine discharge nozzle without requiring time-consuming and costly downtime of the engine and aircraft.